Inside Bob's Red Mill: Private Tour and Mill Experience

Outside the Bob's Red Mill Store, flailing my arms like a happy muppet. — Yours truly, outside the Bob’s Red Mill Store

I feel like I won the golden ticket.

A few weeks ago I was fortunate to attend the “Full On Oregon” press trip, a wonderful weekend in Portland organized by Travel Oregon with support from Maxwell PR. Twenty food writers and bloggers gathered to explore Oregon’s food scene, and it was an unforgettable introduction to the city for me—my first visit to Portland and my first official press trip. The itinerary was thoughtfully arranged, and while the trip was complimentary, I wasn’t compensated beyond the experience and wasn’t obligated to write about it.

I arrived a bit early on Thursday, dropped my bags at the charming Hotel deLuxe, and hopped in a cab to Milwaukie to visit Bob’s Red Mill. I couldn’t hide my excitement on the ride over and ended up chatting with the driver about the destination; he happened to mention his son runs a Mexican-Korean fusion food truck, which felt perfectly Portland.

Inside Bob Moore's Office — Inside Bob’s Office

As a longtime fan of whole grains and Bob’s Red Mill products, I’d wanted to tour the mill for years. (Full disclosure: Bob’s Red Mill advertises on my site, but my enthusiasm for their products is genuine.) Cassidy Stockton, their Social Media Manager, met me at the office and graciously gave me a private, behind-the-scenes tour beyond the usual public route. While public mill tours run weekday mornings, Cassidy let me explore more freely and see areas normally off-limits.

I didn’t meet Bob on this visit—though I’ve met him briefly before—but I did get a look inside his simple, welcoming office. The tour covered the original Mill No. 1, historical photos of the company and its employees, their parade float emblazoned with “No Grain, No Gain! An Employee-Owned Company!”, and exhibits that tell the mill’s story. It felt a bit like the factory visits on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood—watching the production lines in motion is endlessly fascinating.

Bob's Red Mill Number One — An inside view of Mill No. 1 (now just part of the tour)

The current facility is much larger than I expected. They recently moved to a new seven-acre building about a mile from the store to support growth. The production flow—though modernized—still follows a traditional path: grain arrives in enormous white sacks (roughly two tons each), gets lifted above stone mills, is gravity-fed through the milling systems, and fills new bags of ground product.

Main Grain Storage Room — This is about 24 hours’ worth of product — and doesn’t include their gluten-free line.

Milling Sorghum Flour – That’s the mill in the lower-right corner.

After milling, the filled bags move to the packing room where they’re raised over bagging machines, weighed or filled, sealed, labeled, and passed through a highly sensitive metal detector as a safety step. Packages are boxed—usually four to a box—stacked on pallets, and moved to the shipping warehouse, ready for distribution to stores.

Milling Corn – Inside that cylinder are two fast-spinning stone wheels.

Bagging the Bountiful Black Bean Soup Mix

Bobs Red Mill Packaging Line — Bags of granola, about to be boxed

Bob's Red Mill Shipping Warehouse — The Shipping Warehouse

Gluten-Free Goodness

One third of the building is dedicated to gluten-free production and is physically separated to prevent cross-contamination. Bob’s Red Mill takes gluten-free standards seriously: they perform routine testing to ensure ingredients and finished products meet gluten-free requirements. The gluten-testing lab and a separate gluten-free production room are part of this effort, and show the company’s commitment to people who need or choose gluten-free foods.

Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Testing Lab — Cassidy, showing off the Gluten Testing Lab

Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Products — This is all gluten-free product, in its own room — about 24 hours’ worth as well.

Heaven, I’m in Whole Grain Heaven

After the tour we visited the Bob’s Red Mill store for lunch. Cassidy kindly let me take my time choosing from their menu—I enjoyed a grilled veggie sandwich on a whole wheat bun and treated myself to a side of fried grits. After lunch she handed me a large tote and encouraged me to fill it with any products I wanted. I sampled items I hadn’t tried before—hemp and chia seeds, ground hazelnut flour, rice bran, and sweet brown rice—and picked up harder-to-find items like dried blueberries, whole wheat Israeli couscous, and nutritional yeast. Cassidy even offered to ship my loot home, which was a relief.

Inside the Bob's Red Mill Store — Inside the Bob’s Red Mill Store

Shelves of Bob's Red Mill Products — What I wish my grocery store looked like

The World Needs More Moores

Beyond producing quality whole grain products, the company’s recent ownership transition impressed me deeply. Bob and Charlee Moore and their partners chose a multi-year Employee Stock Ownership Plan, gradually transferring ownership to the company’s roughly 200 employees rather than selling or going public. Their philanthropy is equally notable: they’ve donated generously to educational and health institutions, funding initiatives that support nutrition, whole grain research, and public health.

Their commitment to employees, community, and nutrition makes the mill feel more than a business—it feels like a values-driven enterprise focused on creating good food and supporting people. It was a privilege to tour the facility, meet the team, and gain a clearer appreciation for the care that goes into every bag of flour and grain.

Flax Seed Milling — Making Flax Seed Meal. It can’t be ground between stones, else it turns into flax seed butter — so these proprietary spinning blades do the trick!

Many thanks to Vicky, Stacey and the Maxwell PR team; Kevin, Linea, Emily and the Travel Oregon team; and especially Cassidy and everyone at Bob’s Red Mill for an unforgettable visit.